老外眼里的中式英语PK标准英语

在各个英语学习论坛上，经常可以看到有关Chinglish（中式英语）的文章，但一般都是中国人写的。不过我看到一篇长文，也是有关Chinglish的，但却是美国人写的，很有意思。这篇长文的标题是Chinglish 2 English（从中式英语到标准英语），作者是浙江大学的美国外教Chuck Allanson，内容则是Chuck在中国五年任教期间所听到、所看到的各种Chinglish说法。

比如Chuck第一次来中国，下飞机后，负责接待他的东北某大学英语系陈老师说：您刚到，我们吃点饭吧。我们要点Chinese dumpling（饺子）和Chinese beancurd（豆腐），您看可以吗？Chuck以前从未听说过这两种东西，但出于好奇，就说可以，结果饭菜端上来一看，原来就是ravioli（饺子，来自意大利语）和tofu（豆腐，来自日语）。Chuck当时心里暗想，这两种东西，国际上早已经有通用的说法（ravioli和tofu），他们中国人为什么还要用那种生僻的说法呢？以后Chuck跟陈先生混熟了，就问他，当初你为什么不说ravioli和tofu呢？陈先生听了大吃一惊，连忙解释说，我真的不知道这两个词，而且我们的《英汉词典》上也没有这两个词。

于是Chuck开始意识到，中国的英语教师、英语课本、甚至英语词典肯定存在问题，否则不可能发生这种事情。在中国五年的任教期间，Chuck收集了大量的Chinglish说法，从中挑选出一组最常见的，编写了上面提到的那篇长文。下面就是这些Chinglish说法，其中每行第一部分是汉语说法，第二部分是Chinglish说法，第三部分则是英语的标准说法。

① 欢迎你到... ② welcome you to ... ③ welcome to ...

① 永远记住你 ② remember you forever ③ always remember you（没有人能活到forever）

① 祝你有个... ② wish you have a ... ③ I wish you a ...

① 给你 ② give you ③ here you are

① 很喜欢... ② very like ... ③ like ... very much

① 黄头发 ② yellow hair ③ blond/blonde（西方人没有yellow hair的说法）

① 厕所 ② WC ③ men's room/women's room/restroom

① 真遗憾 ② it's a pity ③ that's too bad/it's a shame（it's a pity说法太老）

① 裤子 ② trousers ③ pants/slacks/jeans

① 修理 ② mend ③ fix/repair

① 入口 ② way in ③ entrance

① 出口 ② way out ③ exit（way out在口语中是crazy的意思）

① 勤奋 ② diligent ③ hardworking/studious/conscientious

① 应该 ② should ③ must/shall

① 火锅 ② chafing dish ③ hot pot

① 大厦 ② mansion ③ center/plaza

① 马马虎虎 ② so-so ③ average/fair/all right/not too bad/OK（西方人很少使用so-so）

① 好吃 ② delicious ③ good/nice/tasty/appetizing（delicious在中国被滥用）

① 尽我最大努力 ② try my best ③ try/strive（try的本意就是try my best）

① 有名 ② famous ③ well-known/renowned/legendary/popular（famous在中国被滥用）

① 滑稽 ② humorous ③ funny/witty/amusing/entertaining

① 欺骗 ② to cheat ③ to trick/to play a joke on/to con/to deceive/to rip off

① 车门 ② the door of the car ③ the car's door

① 怎么拼? ② how to spell? ③ how do you spell?

① 再见 ② bye-bye ③ bye/see you/see you later/later（bye-bye有些孩子气）

① 玩 ② play ③ go to/do（play在中国被滥用）

① 面条 ② noodles ③ pasta（noodles有些孩子气）

① 据说 ② it is said ③ I heard/I read/I was told

① 等等 ② and so on ③ etc.

① 直到现在 ② till now ③ recently/lately/thus far

① 农民 ② peasant ③ farmer

① 宣传 ② propaganda ③ information

但是也有不同意见：

Sometimes people forget that English is used in many other parts of the world too, not only in the USA, where Chuck is from.

Where I live, i.e. Sydney Australia, people call Chinese dumplings "Chinese dumplings"; ravioli would be odd, actually.

Most people say "trousers", not just the Chinese do that.

As for 厕所, you say "the toilet" or "the bathroom"; "restroom" sounds funny and old fashioned.

面条 is precisely "noodles"; pasta refers to Italian food, not Chinese.

"delicious" and "famous" are perfectly ok; although knowing other synonyms would help.

As for "information", it doesn't mean 宣传 at all.

See what I mean? Chinglish is certainly not desirable; but Americanism is not the solution.

The problem with Chuck's article lies in his failure to differentiate errors that are often made by Chinese, e.g. "welcome you to", and "very like", from variations of English. In other words, he equates correct English words as wrong simply because they are not used where he's from.

That's what I call arrogance - thinking one's own dialect is the standard of the world.

It's unhelpful for English learners because it causes much confusion.

It's inexcusable for someone who is teaching English at university but is so lacking in knowledge about English as a global language.

觉得很有意思，就整理出来，供英语爱好者讨论......